The former president, Mrs Mary Robinson, said last night she was "very hurt and dismayed" by allegations of anti-Semitism made against her on a college campus in the US.
Over 1,000 students and some academic staff at Emory University in Atlanta have signed an on-line petition accusing the former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights of being anti-Semitic and fostering hostility towards Israel.
The petitioners called on the university to remove her as commencement speaker at a graduation ceremony on May 10th.
Mrs Robinson flew to Atlanta last week to explain her views to a group of two dozen staff and students at the university.
Mrs Robinson has been criticised for her role in the 2001 World Conference on Racism held in South Africa. The New York-based Irish Voice newspaper reported that pro-Israel groups protested recently when Columbia University appointed her to a part-time position.
Prof Kenneth Stein, the director of the Middle East institute at Emory, also questioned what he said was Mrs Robinson's belief that "the root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict is the occupation". He told a college paper: "I'm troubled by the apparent absence of due diligence on the part of decision-makers who invited her to speak."
Speaking to The Irish Times from her office at the Ethical Globalisation Initiative in New York, where she is executive director, Mrs Robinson said: "I am very hurt and dismayed." She continued: "It is distressing that allegations are being made that are absolutely unfounded."
She intended to keep her speaking engagement on May 10th, she said. "The university are strongly siding with me. It's a wonderful university for Irish literature," she added.
Describing her meeting at Emory, she said: "Some were convinced and some would not have been if I stayed a month. The unfortunate problem was a very difficult conference at Durban. Everyone who was at Durban knows I spoke out against anti-Semitism."
Emory University said in a statement that it was "unaware" of the Durban controversy when it issued the invitation but added that "Mrs Robinson's own speeches, interviews, and actions repeatedly and explicitly condemn anti-Semitism, terrorist acts, and religious intolerance".